telomeres

In article <jaboweryCqs69t.qo at netcom.com>,
jabowery at netcom.com (Jim Bowery) writes:
>>Clearly in animals where learning is critical, as it is in humans
>in a technological civilization, we should expect to see strong selective
>pressures toward life-long learning, prolonged fertility in women
>and general longevity.
You don't need a technological civilisation. As soon as you have
language you can gain an evolutionary advantage by instructing your
grandchildren. In reallity the technological civilisation may _reduce_
the advantage by collectivising the instructor role.
But what I'm saying is that even in animals with little behavioural
plasiticity as adults and a high casualty rate longevity is _still_ an
advantage, albeit a marginal one and senescence would be evolved out
unless longevity was strongly tied to some delitorious effect in young
life.
Malcolm